A bit of a shaky start to the day as Laura was ill in the night with D+V. The first illness of our trip, although I'm sure it won't be our last.... We went on a guided walk and saw green and brown basilisk lizards (very beautiful, especially the green one), monkeys, some large spiders (including the "golden orb", with one of the strongest webs of any spider - see photo) and more lizards. We also saw a 3-toed sloth - she was high up in the tree canopy and difficult to see/photograph (hence the not so great picture!) but worth seeing, after 2 weeks of waiting to see a sloth. Oh, and plenty of ants - many different types and sizes, including the "bullet ant", around an inch long and apparently very painful when it bites. Some of the ants (luckily not bullet ants) decided to explore my trouser leg and they bit me several times, to the point that I had to remove and shake my trousers before replacing them! It brought a whole new meaning to the phrase "ants in your pants"... In the afternoon we explored the forest more, found a cocoa tree and also had a paddle in the Sarapiqui river. We enjoyed the buffet dinners in the lodge - a bit more variety made a welcome change to the ubiquitous beans & rice. In the evening we enjoyed a beer in the hammock again, watching the fireflies come out for the night.Read more

We had a couple of days (3 nights) staying at Chilamate Rainforest Ecolodge in the Sarapiqui rainforest. The lodge has its own trails, so it was easy to explore the forest on foot. Solana quite enjoyed being our "guide", with her binoculars and wildlife spotting card - so funny hearing her talking like the actual guides we've had! We saw lots of frogs, including green and black poison arrow frogs, howler monkeys (they're VERY loud!) and more birds, including toucans trying to steal bananas from the trees. To get to the lodge, we had to park the car and walk across a rickety-looking bridge (which the occasional car did go over but not sure I'd be brave enough), whilst our bags were transported across on a golf cart! Whilst here, the rainforest lived up to its name and we saw our first rain since arriving in Costa Rica. Some of the "showers" were quite spectacular but the additional mosquitoes it brought out after were somewhat less spectacular. They have been biting through clothes at times; bring on the permanent aroma of eau de DEET insect repellent for the remainder of the trip...Read more

Rural Costa Rica. The Two Mile of Costa Rica. Luis said Marty would like it here and he was right. Luis took us on an adventure into the mountains and we followed farmer tracks up and up, then walked to confirm that we were on the wrong path. It would rain on and off, which was not too bad, , but we were happy to get back down to the river where Luis took off in his kayak and we played in the river. Caleb loves nothing better than to jump into rivers and he has found most places where this is possible.
It is easy to stay at the farm. A Nicaraguan family stays in the main house and we have use of the tree house and the outdoor kitchen. Luis has planted trees and heart of palm crops on his property and it is shady and entertaining. There is a sloth who lives in a tree, but way up in the tree, and a scarlet macaw comes by some mornings. We can pick limes and bananas, but the pineapples are still too small. After we ate one that we had bought, we planted the top as Luis says anything will grow here. They grow in the field around us, but I bought one, where anyone else would buy it and it was 900 colones, which is about $1.80. Like anywhere, the kids enjoy fruit when they get it as money goes towards rice and beans to fill tummies. Last night Marty wanted a lime for his tequila, so he walked back to the lime tree to get one. Luis' mom came out on Saturday on the bus from San Jose to get heart of palm that she sells to a fancy restaurant near her house in Heredia. Josue cuts it before she comes and then they work together to split it and take the heart out. I was put to work bagging 1kg bags, for which she gets 3$. We had some for breakfast yesterday, and it is a bit like mushrooms, but denser. It is good for you apparently, not much flavor. Marty suggests that rich people like eating it because they like to know the poor people have worked hard for the food they eat.
I am glad there are kids here. Jorja has been playing hide and seek and tag and drawing with Micheal (5) and Daidra (10). Yesterday we took Daidra, her little sister johanna (1), her big sister Hazel (19) and the boy from cross the street David (17) to the river near here to swim. The family has a motorcycle, so I think it is hard to get everyone to one place at one time. Daidra used the mask to watch the little yellow fish and thought that was pretty cool. The rivers are clean and cool and we try to swim in all that we find. Nicaraguans come to Costa Rica for the work, and are alot of the work force for the plantations of bananans and pineapples and do alot of the truck driving. They have access to education and health care, but some Costa Ricans think they are displacing their own kids from jobs. lll let you know if I meet any well off Nicaraguans. We are going to find a back wheel for Josues bike today as the rim has worn through and he doesn't have the money to replace it. For $8 it will be something we can do. I would like to go to school with Daidra today and meet her teacher, maybe be put to work!
Luis comes back from San Jose today and we are heading to the Carribean maybe to Cahuita tommorrow. I think it is good for us to stay at the farm and be reminded how a large portion of the country lives before we hit the tourist towns. Read more

Tirimbina Reserve: Lunch was served here, and was delicious as always! Then we walked in the rainforest, including the longest hanging bridge in the country. We saw lots of wildlife, including the little poisonous frogs and a small, coiled viperous snake in the path.

We drove through Alajuela and Heredia provinces where we saw coffee plants growing under canopies to protect them from the sun, and fields of tropical plants grown for export as houseplants. We had lunch, and then drove through a cloud forest to get to the park. There were some plants with huge leaves, nicknamed Poor Man’s Umbrella, which only grow in the cloud forests.

This park in the cloud forest is a sanctuary for rescued animals and birds (many illegally kept as pets) that are unable to be returned to the wild: monkeys, macaws, and jungle cats etc. Here are some of the toucans and other birds we saw.

There are three waterfalls in the park, which were accessed by a trail and stairs. Picture 5 shows the couple, Larry and Dorthy from North Carolina, who were with us on all the tours. They are so nice!